The Heart of the Ocean
by Loor101
Summary: What if Jack had obtained the necklace and it had magical properties that revived him as a merman after Rose let him go? However, he doesn't remember much about his past at all. Read and review for it to continue!
1. Chapter 1

**Heart of the Ocean**

Chapter One: Beginnings.

 _"There she is."_

Dr. Brock Lovett softly said, looking out a small window of the small submersible he and his heavy assistant, Lewis Bodine-were squeezed into. They were about 12,500 feet under the North Atlantic Ocean, now approaching a grim sight of a gigantic wrecked ship famously known as the Titanic.

As the infamous story was widely known, Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk on a cold day of April 14th, 1912 and it was huge a catastrophe for everyone and anyone aboard its maiden voyage. The wreckage of the ship's remains was not found until some 70 years later- and even then only certain people were allowed to go under and see it.

The light of the submersible illuminated parts of the algae covered stern, floating towards and down into what was the first class rooms of the ship. Various objects could briefly be visible in the limited light. Dr. Lovett and his assistant have visited the wreckage many times now, looking for a very valuable thing that they believe went down with the ship- A necklace with a heart shaped blue diamond stone worn by Henry the 8th. It would be worth more than the Hope diamond now and they were determined to find it and get filthy rich off of it.

Little did they know, as they were passing by one of the floors;  
Something was carefully watching them from behind a wall.  
This something was actually someone. A young man with gills on his neck, and a dark green fish tail in place of legs, had his back pressed against the rust ridden iron structure of the ship-  
His short light brown hair brushed against his forehead in the sway of the water. His greyish-green eyes intently watching the submarines as they passed by completely unknowing of his presence.

 _"What are they doing here again?"_ He thought, as they were now a few levels below him. He quietly kicked his tail and slowly followed a safe distance away.

The Titanic was actually this merman's home and has been for a very long time. He had been the guardian of it ever since it hit the ocean floor. The thing about this ship was that it was very familiar to him and he had a great sense of duty to protect it. It held the key to his past…a past he could not remember very much at all.  
His mind flashed back to the very start of his existence in the sea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _"I'll never let go. I promise."_ – those were the first and last words of a woman that echoed through his mind before he awoke on the darkness of ocean floor. He couldn't recall anything before that. He found himself with a fishtail from the waist down and breathing through gills. He was actually wearing remnants of clothing when he awoke.

A white button up shirt and tattered overall pants that had to have been torn up from a transformation. Something heavy weighed on his neck and chest revealed to be a significantly sized blue diamond attached to a silver chain.  
He felt a strange energy from that diamond when he held it; he somehow knew it had to be the reason why he was there now.

Apart from the magical necklace- he did find that he had silver cuffs tightly attached around both of his wrist.  
He couldn't seem to get the cuffs off by himself- so he had to attend to that later. Instead, he took off the shirt and awkwardly swam up looking for some form of life around him.

 _"Hello!"_ He called out into the abyss. _"Is anyone out there?"_

It wasn't until a few minutes of nothingness that he eventually came across a pod of orcas answering his call.

 _"What is a merman like you doing so far out here?"_ One of them spoke, which startled him at first.

 _"I- I don't know where I am, or how I got here. Is there anyone like me around here I can talk to?"_ He naturally moaned back in their language.

 _"Not for many miles"_ the same Orca answered.

The merman's face lit up when he heard that there were others like him. But then he frowned at them being so far away and not knowing the direction. The Orca noticed his expression and decided to help the merman out.

 _"Come, we'll take you to the nearest village. I am called Teman. By what name were you given?"_

The merman paused for a moment trying to recall his own name. A look of confusion shown on his face before he subconsciously reached for the stone around his neck. As soon as his fingers touched the diamond, he suddenly remembered his name as if it gave him the answer he was hoping for.  
 _  
"Dawson."_ He replied. _"My name is Jack Dawson."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Heart of the Ocean.**

 **Chapter 2: Promise.**

Jack and the pod of Orcas swam for about an hour and a half before reaching a point where there was an opening to a cavern deep within a crevice of the ocean floor.

 _"This is as far as we can go Jack Dawson. You will find the Atlantian village through there."_ Teman pointed his nose towards the opening which was obviously too small for an Orca to fit through. Jack nodded and gave the Orca an appreciative pat on the head.

" _Thank you very much for your help."_ Jack waved as he flicked his new tail and propelled himself inside the mouth of the cavern. He followed a path of seaweed until he found himself face to face with an armored merman floating in front of a vent in the floor.

" _Halt! Who goes there?"_ The merman said in a gruff voice.

Jack put his hands up as a sign of peace. _"I-I'm sorry to intrude… I just-"_

The armored merman immediately noticed the color of Jack's tail and cut him off. _"Oh, you're a Splinter."_ he said with hint of bitterness.

" _uh- a what?"_ Jack asked incredulously.

" _Nevermind. Ride down the vent and ask for Marcos. He'll explain everything to you."_

" _Uh- ok …thanks?"_ Jack tried to answer, but was already being pushed down into the vent.

As soon as he was pushed in, a strong force of water pulled him down very quickly.

" _Ahh!"_

Jack didn't even have time to register what was happening as he was being sucked into the hole. The merman shot out of the other side, still disoriented from the unexpected rush of turbulence.

As soon as Jack came to his senses, he gasped in awe when he looked up. He was in the middle of a beautiful gigantic coral reef. Corals of all kinds and colors that towered to the top of the cavern. It also served as homes to many fish and merpeople alike. He saw mermaids and mermen of all kinds that were very busy in this reef- some were in what appeared to be a marketplace trading for fish and weapons, others were tending to seaweed gardens some young merkids playfully swam past chasing each other. It was indeed a village- but a beautiful one at that.

Jack swam down towards the market area and tried to grab the nearest merperson's attention. As he was swimming through the crowd, he couldn't help but feel like eyes were turned on to him as they noticed his presence. He approached a mermaid with long blonde hair first.

" _Hey miss, where can I find Marcos?"_  
The mermaid scowled at him and turned away with a big _"Hmph"_ before flicking her magenta tail and swimming off. Jack was confused at her rudeness, but continued trying anyways by asking someone else. He turned to a merman with short black hair next.

" _Excuse me, do you know where I can find Marcos?"_ The merman pretty much gave the same reaction and muttered _"Splinter"_ under his breath as he turned his dark blue tail away. It seemed every-time Jack tried to interact with someone, they all turned with disgust at him. Now he was getting frustrated.

" _What is wrong with you people!?"_ He said out-loud a little too loudly, which gave a momentary silence in the coral square. The merpeople looked at him blankly before shrugging and continuing about their business.

" _Don't you know? You're a Splinter."_ a young voice behind him said. Jack swayed around to find a young mermaid looking up at him with a dark pink tail and reddish-orange hair tied up in long braided pigtails. She appeared to be about 8 or 9 years old to him. _"What's a Splinter? Why is everyone calling me that?"_

" _A Splinter is not a true born merperson. Someone who used to be human. Anyone who's had what they call legs before is a Splinter. They are frowned upon in mer society."_ She blankly stated. Some of the words in her answer made Jack's mind reel- Legs? Human? They were very familiar words to him; he knew what they meant. But he couldn't seem to remember ever having legs or being a human.

 _"H-how can you tell I was a human?"_ He asked the mer-girl.

" _It's because of your tail. Only Splinters have that color tail."_ She pointed out.

Jack looked down at his dark green tail and then looked around, realizing that no one else had his tail color. All the mers here had vibrant colored tails- Purple, pink, blue, green, yellow, orange- they were all bright shades glowing almost a neon color. Jack's tail was a dull dark camouflage green and it did not shine like the others did.

 _"I see…So I'm an outcast."_ He sighed. The mergirl giggled at him slightly, her voice was very melodic. _"No, outcast have it way worse. Splinters are more like lower class mers."_ She said.

" _My name's Marina."_ She motioned. _"If you're looking for Marcos, I'll show you to him."_ _"My name is Dawson, Jack Dawson. I owe you one kid."_ Jack responded as he followed her.

" _Hey!"_ She snapped. _"I'm not a kid- I happen to be turning 95 soon."_ This made Jack stop mid stride.

" _Ninety five!? That can't be true! You look way too young to be that old."_ He exclaimed.

Marina giggled once more. _"Mers can live up to 600 years. We age differently than humans."_

" _Oh… I knew that."_ Jack nervously joked.

Soon they reached a gigantic sea sponge on the edge of the reef. This sponge was so huge that it's multiple small pores served almost as windows to a building. The sponge was hollow inside, so the only way in was through a carved out entrance way with seaweed as a curtain to come inside.

" _Marcos!"_ Marina yelled. _"There's a Splinter here to see you."_

" _What's that? A Splinter? Send them in by all means!"_ a voice called from inside the sponge.

" _This is where I'll leave you mister Dawson. Take care!"_ The mergirl said as she swam back. " _Thank you again Marina!"_ Jack waved.

Jack pushed the seaweed curtain aside and floated into the sea sponge that was Marcos' home. He looked around and saw that this place didn't really have much in it. It had a hammock made of rope hanging on one of the soft walls as well as some various human objects scattered across the place. A sitting area was carved into the walls as well as what looked to be like a desk. Crabs crawled across the floor and ceiling. It wasn't an ideal place to have to live in, but for a merperson it was decent.

 _"Come in come in."_ Marcos said as he floated down from above. Jack saw that this Marcos guy was older, about late 50's in human years tan, had short curly black hair and a small moustache. His tail was a dull brownish-orange color, meaning he was a Splinter too.

" _Welcome my fellow Splinter. I'm known as Marcos. What brings you to my abode?"_

" _Well, My name is Jack Dawson and I was hoping you could tell me. I just woke up with no memory of who I was before this. I don't know how I got here- but I think it has something to do with this."_ He pointed to the gigantic blue stone around his neck.

Marcos eyes widened at the piece of jewelry. _"ey ey ey!"_ he exclaimed. _"That's a big and rare piece of magic stone you got there!"_

Jack blinked- _"Magic stone?"_

" _Yes, that there looks to be what we would call a blue ocean diamond. It's an old stone that dates back to prehistoric times. It has magical properties that activates with a strong human emotion in seawater."_

Jack held the stone in his palm, feeling a warmth emit from it, the words of the woman echoed through his mind once again.

" _ **I'll never let go. I promise….."**_

" _I've never seen one that big though, must've cost a lot of money up there where you're from."_ Marcos continued interrupting his thoughts.

" _Where I'm from…"_ Jack snapped out of it. _"Just, where am I from?"_

" _Same place I was from boy. The surface land."_

Jack's mind tried to remember what it was like on land. But he was drawing a blank.

" _Do you….remember what it was like?"_ he had to ask.

" _No, I don't remember anything about being a human- it's no use trying either. All I know is that my life was saved by becoming a merman, and after 200 something years I've learned to accept that and appreciate it for what it is- even if it means I'm a Splinter in this world."_ Marcos sadly replied.

" _The surface land…."_ Jack muttered out-loud to himself. " _I need to see it for myself...Maybe then I can remember."_

" _Absolutely not Dawson."_ Marcos snapped upon hearing him.

" _We're not allowed to go to the surface, and even if we could we wouldn't be able to get very far on land. Trust me, it's better to stay where you are."_

Jack stayed silent at that statement. From the pessimistic things Marcos was saying, he could tell that that merman had long given up and settled to where he was. A thought struck him, if he had given up then at some point he had to have tried right?

" _So you have gone to the surface before haven't you?"_

Marcos paled a bit at Jack's remark at first, but then nodded- knowing there was no denying it.

" _Yes, but if you're not gonna take my word for it. Then please don't come crying to me when you get arrested, captured or worse."_

Jack nodded and was about to turn to leave, but Marcos stopped him.

" _Jack! Before you go, you need to promise me one thing."_

" _What's that?"_

" _No matter what. You cannot allow yourself to be seen by any humans. They do not know of our existence- and it will cause great danger for all of us if you are discovered. Promise me you'll be careful."_

Jack paused for a moment upon seeing Marcos' serious expression, but nodded in understanding.

" _I promise."_

As he turned to leave, the familiar words of the woman echoed through his mind again as he unconsciously said the same thing she did.

 **" _I'll never let go. I promise…."_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heart of the Ocean**

 **Chapter 3: Flying.**

Up and up and up- it seemed as if there was almost no end from the bottom of the ocean. Jack would occasionally look down as he continued to swim vertically, the water below him getting darker and darker as above him started to get brighter.

" _Man, I must've been in really deep."_ He thought to himself as he finally saw the surface coming into view. He flipped his tail harder upon seeing it, stroking his arms above him as he prepared for what was above. Finally, his head swiftly broke the surface- only to greet his sensitive eyes with blinding light.

" _Urgh!"_

Jack quickly ducked back under in reaction to the unexpected glare. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes- after a few seconds of finally being able to see again, he tried to surface again, more slowly this time. The merman raised an arm over his eyes in order for them to adjust better. The gills on his neck immediately closed with contact to the air and his lungs opened. He gasped a bit upon the sensation of oxygen filling his lungs again. After a few minutes, Jack's eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight. The merman looked around and saw nothing but endless miles of open ocean in all directions; he was literally in the middle of nowhere. He sighed, not knowing where the surface land was from here. Jack turned on to his back and floated with arms stretched out in the open water- hearing a few seagulls flying above and bobbing with the sound of the ocean waves, he felt a small chilly breeze on the side of his face- these sensations were very familiar to him- He grasped the necklace again and closed his eyes. He could somehow remember what it was like to breathe air again. He suddenly had a vivid flash of nostalgia-remembering wind hitting his face as he was literally flying over the ocean.

" _I'm…flying?"_ He thought as he saw the memory.

Just then, the sound of loud clicks coming from a few feet away broke him out of his thoughts. Jack sputtered and sat up, quite startled at the noise. He noticed that a pod of young dolphins were right below him. They laughed at his reaction and surfaced their heads.

" _Whatcha doing?"_ One of the smaller ones asked.

" _Me?"_ the merman replied. _"I was uhh… just thinking."_

" _Bout what?"_ another youngling asked.

Jack smiled recalling the memory he just had a glimpse of.

" _About flying."_ He truthfully answered.

The pod chuckled at his response.

" _Silly merman- Only the seagulls can fly."_ the small one said.

Jack frowned a bit, he was certain he was flying before- it all seemed too real. But he couldn't argue with the dolphin's statement. There was no way he could fly.

" _Yeah, that does sound pretty impossible doesn't it?"_ He sounded disappointed.

" _Not impossible. Sometimes we like to fly! See how fast and far we can jump across the waves, it's really fun to fly that way!"_ One of the dolphins chirped happily.

Jack blinked, _"That's not actually flying though."_

" _Maybe not. But it certainly feels like you're flying. You should try it with us!"_ the same dolphin challenged.

Before Jack could give a response, the whole pod leaped off into the water. They dived down and gracefully jumped out of the waves in long strides. The merman shrugged and soon followed the pod the same way. He used his tail to propel himself out of the water and dive up and down. He soon caught up with them as he felt the rush of the air and sea with each jump- faster and faster until he gained enough momentum to leap long strides across the surface. The merman surprised himself as he saw just how high and far he could jump with each dive. Sailing across the surface, it truly felt amazing.

" _Woohoo! Yeah!"_ He couldn't help but shout out in midair next to the dolphins keeping speed with him. The dolphins squealed happily in response, having just as much fun as he was now in full speed.

 _"Watch out! It's getting shallow!"_ the leader of the dolphins warned. The dolphins immediately slowed down and turned a different direction to not hit the shore. Jack however, didn't register the warning in time.

" _Huh?"_ he wondered as he turned his head around and saw the dolphins stop behind him. Just as he turned ahead, his eyes widened and he went flying face first into sand.

" _Oomph!"_

He landed so hard that his tail fin was bent over his head for a few seconds before he finally flopped flat on to the shore. He laid there motionless for a good minute or two before finally coming to his senses. Slowly, he lifted his head up and spat out a mouthful of sand.

" _Pluh! Pluh!"_

He heard the distant sound of laughing from the dolphins far in the water behind him. Jack groaned and finally sat up on his sore elbows, he looked up and saw that he was on an island beach with many palm trees only a few feet away from him. Looking up further he saw that this island had a giant mountain towering over the beach. When he finally took a look behind him to see how far he was from the water, his face dropped in concern. The merman was not close to the water's edge at all. He had to have been at least 20 yards away roughly. This might be an easy walk for a human, but for Jack- it would literally be a drag to get back to the ocean from that distance.

" _I…really underestimated how far I can jump with this tail."_ He thought bitterly.

Just as he was about to turn himself over and back around facing towards the sea, he heard footsteps in the sand walk up to him.

" _What do we have here?"_ A gruff male voice said.

He immediately looked up and his face paled.

Standing over the splintered merman, was a human.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heart of the Ocean**

 **Chapter 4: Shoreline.**

He couldn't believe it, one moment Jack was flying free through the waves and the next he's beached on the shore with a human looking down at him.

The human was a blonde Nordic man who looked to be in his late fifties. The man looked surprised at the merman that landed on the shore- never was he expecting to find something like this on his excursion. He then looked up and noticed how far away this merman was from the water, and saw no marks in the sand indicating he dragged himself there.

" _D-did you jump this far?"_

Not knowing how to react or if he should even speak, Jack silently nodded.

 _The man's eyes widened- "Ooh, so you can understand me. That's good to know."_

" _Crap."_ Jack inwardly thought; he shouldn't have done that.

" _Wellp, looks like I've struck gold!" the man exclaimed, "A real merman has plopped onto the Iceland shore and I happened to be the one to find him!"_

This statement was enough to make Jack look up in fear.

" _Wh-what are you going to do to me?" He shakily asked._

" _Me? Nothing at all. Just wanted to see your reaction. Hahah!"_

Jack blinked in confusion…. This guy must be crazy.

" _You're… not going to take me away?" He had to ask._

 _The man laughed, "Take you away? Take you away to where?_

 _There's nothing and no one for miles._

 _Even if I could somehow get you up that mountain, you'd be dead before I could show_

 _you to anyone. I'm against killing people- even if they are uhh, half fish."_

Jack couldn't help but sag in relief- the man's words sounded sincere.

But he thought about it a little more and realized one flaw in his statement.

" _If there's not anyone for miles, why are you here?" Jack asked._

" _Papa!"_ he heard a young boy call from a distance in the trees.

Jack seemed startled at the voice and shook his head in attempts to not get seen by yet another human- but it was too late.

"Over here son! Come take a look at what I found!" the man had already called back to his son.

" _Why!?"_ Jack inwardly screamed… he knew he was breaking a big law in the mer-world, he was sure of it now.

" _What is it papa?"_ a young boy by the age of 4 emerged from the trees. The young boy's blue eyes widened when he saw Jack laying there with a frustrated look.

" _Wow!" The young boy excitedly yelled loudly. "A mermaid! A real mermaid! Just like the one in my favorite book! Can I touch it?"_

Jack cringed at his being called a mermaid- though the kid was only four, he still felt

compelled to correct him.

" _Uhh, actually, I'm a merman."_ He muttered.

" _Peter here and I were about to go fishing. We're travelling the coastline on our way to Selfoss where our kin is."_ The father answered.

Jack nodded in understanding-this guy had a family. He unconsciously grabbed the gem around his neck and immediately felt that his family was long gone- He was definitely the last of the Dawson's.

" _Wow! What a pretty necklace!"_ The boy said when he saw Jack reach for it. His father noticed it too and he raised a brow.

" _That's definitely not from the ocean. Where did you get that, a sunken ship?"_

Jack froze for a moment and then looked away trying to think of a good way to answer this without revealing that he was once a human.

" _It….was given to me."_ Jack replied hesitantly .

" _Really? From who?"_

Before the merman could give another response, his neck suddenly burned and he winced and gasped a bit at the sensation of his Gills not getting any water. He started to pant with each painful breath as he held the sides of his neck gently. He's been out in the air with no water for too long.

The older man and his four year old quickly noticed his discomfort.

" _What's wrong with mister merman?"_ Peter asked his father concerned.

" _Looks like he needs water."_ The father answered without any second thought.

Before Jack could do anything else, the man bent down and wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders, pulling him onto his back.

" _Whoa! What are you doing?!"_ Jack couldn't help but raspily yell at the sudden action.

" _What's it look like I'm doing? I'm taking you back to the water."_

Jack squirmed a bit in the man's grasp, but soon realized that there was no point in fighting it- he was a little too far from the shoreline to get back himself. He allowed himself to be dragged to the shore with the man walking backwards. His tail was making a line in the sand as the young boy followed in its path. Soon enough they got to the water, the man dropped Jack into the waves sweating in exhaustion. As soon as the merman felt a splash of the cool seawater on his neck, he ducked under in the shallow water and shortly emerged relieved.

" _Thank you."_ He couldn't help but be grateful to the two humans.

" _Not a problem, my name is Patrick. I don't believe I got yours."_

" _Dawson."_ Jack said, not wanting to tell him his full name.

" _Well mister Dawson- be more careful next time, and I wish you luck on whatever you may be looking for."_

" _Thanks, you too!"_ Jack said as he began to swim into a deeper area.

" _Bye bye mister merman!"_ Peter shouted and waved his arms around rapidly.

Jack smiled and waved goodbye just before he dove under again, his tail rose and sunk into the waves.

" _Peter, I want you to remember this moment."_ Patrick began to say to his son after a moment of silence.

" _It's not often you get to rescue a merman with your dad."_ He chuckled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack swam into deeper waters wondering where he should go next. It wasn't very far when he suddenly hear a familiar girl's voice behind him.

" _You're not supposed to do that splinter Jack Dawson."_

Jack froze and turned around to find Marina staring at him with disappointment in her eyes.

" _Wh-what? How did you know I was here?"_ He asked in disbelief.

" _I got word from dolphins that a splinter was stuck on the surface land. I just knew it was you, when I came up here to try to help you- I saw that you were talking with those two humans."  
_ Jack nervously flicked his tail and scratched the back of his head.

" _Well, yeah but-"_

" _No buts mister Dawson. Though they may have helped you get back to the sea, your exposure to them might put us all in danger. I really didn't want to have to do this…"_

Before Jack could say or do anything else, a strong merman wearing armor grabbed his arms from behind and twisted them around tightly behind his back.

" _Hey!"_ Jack shouted. _"Let me go!"_

" _As a princess to the Atlantian throne, I can't allow any exceptions in breaking the law."_ Marina said firmly.

" _Jack Dawson- you're under arrest for violating two of our most important rules- going to the surface land AND carelessly being exposed to humans."_


End file.
